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Tonight might be the biggest game of the Kevin Garnett Era season.
Why would I say that with a Game 7 as a fall-back game on Sunday?
Because the Celtics need to know, and I believe they do, that they are the best team in the NBA and the Atlanta Hawks, while young, athletic and feistier than a lot of people expected, are not even close being the best team in the league.
The Celtics need to prove to themselves that last weekend in Atlanta was exception and not the rule.
They need to realize that as good as Joe Johnson is, there are about a dozen players still around in the playoffs that are better than he is during crunch time.
What I believe happened was the Celtics let their guard down in Atlanta. We must also remember, a lot of luck went the Hawks way in Game 4 in Atlanta, when the Celtics missed a lot of easy shots that bounced in and out, and the Hawks were nearly perfect at the free throw line, 29-of-33.
That’s not to say it won’t be a close game tonight, because it probably will be very close for most of, if not the entire game.
If the Celtics are going to get by Cleveland (or Washington) and Detroit, they can’t let the Hawks take them seven games.
We saw the Pistons struggle for a few games before they turned it on and destroyed the Sixers by winning the last three games.
A loss tonight and the Celtics would probably win on Sunday, maybe easily. But that’s not good enough.
They must win tonight.